Society's Child

Barcelona city council asks for state aid to help with refugees from rescue ship Aquarius

Stephen Burgen and Sam Jones
The Guardian
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:44 UTC

Migrants disembark the Aquarius in Valencia

Barcelona city council has said more state aid will be needed to help settle refugees and migrants as the Catalan capital prepares to take in 100 people from the rescue ship Aquarius.

Ignasi Calbó, the co-ordinator of the Barcelona City of Refugees programme, said that Pedro Sánchez's new Socialist government needed to back up its humanitarian gesture with money and policies.

"If it's committed on the issue of refugees, the Sánchez government has no option but to provide resources," he said. "There could be 300 more Aquarius this year so there needs to be a consistent policy."

The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, also called earlier this week for the central government to fulfil its obligations. "Cities can't do it all themselves. We need policies and resources that allow us to plan for this," she said.

UK prison with 'staggering' suicide rate still failing inmates, says report

RT
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:06 UTC

A prison that had the highest suicide rate in England and Wales in 2017, and where 20 men have taken their own lives since 2011, has a "staggering" death rate and is still failing inmates, a report has said.

Inspectors who turned up unannounced at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes in February said that there were "chronic and substantial" staff shortages.

Boston Globe columnist suspended for 'embellishing' Boston Marathon bombing story

Boston Herald
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 15:22 UTC

Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen has been suspended without pay for three months after "serious violations" in remarks he made about the Boston Marathon bombings - a penalty his union says he's going to fight.

Scott Steeves, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, told the Herald last night Cullen will take his case to arbitration.

"Kevin looks forward to defending himself," Steeves said. "The guild stands behind Kevin 100 percent."

The Globe announced last night Cullen will be demoted to general assignment reporter for the first two months upon his return before being allowed to write his column again.

The suspension comes after Cullen was called out by WEEI's Kirk Minihane for embellishing his reporting of the Boston Marathon bombings - including a broadcast report of him supposedly urging a city firefighter to come out for a drink the night of the bombings.

Comment: His piece implied he was on the scene when the explosions happened (he wasn't), among other fake details. As the Globe's review concluded, "scenes in which he was centrally involved but, to the best of our knowledge, didn't occur."

"Our review leads us to a conclusion that Mr. Cullen damaged his credibility," Publisher John Henry and Editor Brian McGrory wrote, adding they were "serious violations for any journalist."

A scrub of his work was led by Kathleen Carroll, the former executive editor of The Associated Press, and Tom Fiedler, dean of the College of Communication at Boston University.

A second review was done by two Globe editors and a former reporter who fact-checked some of Cullen's columns.

Comment: Not to all news watchers: sometimes, contradictions in news reports aren't evidence of cover-ups, they're just evidence of journalists making things up. Unfortunately, that happens a lot, and it doesn't make our job any easier.

Parkland sheriff's deputy had "no legal duty" to stop school shooting, according to his lawyers

Sun Sentinel
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 15:09 UTC

surveillance footage of Scot Peterson outside Parkland FL school

Many have called him a coward, but former sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson had no legal duty to stop the slaughter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, his attorneys say.

Peterson took shelter rather than confront the killer, but he did not act with malice or bad faith, according to his attorneys, Michael Piper and Christopher Stearns of Fort Lauderdale. Therefore he can't be held legally responsible for the deaths, they say in court documents.

Allegations against Peterson suggest only that he "opted for self-preservation over heroics," the attorneys wrote.

The statements came in a motion seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Andrew Pollack, the father of 18-year-old Meadow Pollack, who was killed in the shooting.

Pollack sued Peterson on April 30 in Broward Circuit Court, accusing the former school resource officer of failing to do his duty.

Comment: See also:

HRW: Bill Clinton's laws created a shameful immigration system of mass detention and abuse of refugees and migrants

Ben Norton
Salon
Wed, 27 Apr 2016 09:56 UTC

© AP/Jim Cole
Bill Clinton’s shameful legacy on immigration: Laws he signed ripped apart families and authorized arbitrary detention

Clinton-era immigration laws "have subjected hundreds of thousands of people to arbitrary detention, fast-track deportations and family separation," Human Rights Watch says in a new report.

The rights group says two 1996 immigration laws signed by President Bill Clinton have created a system in which refugees and migrants face detention and fast-track deportation without adequate consideration from U.S. authorities.

Human Rights Watch is calling on the U.S. Congress to repeal provisions in these two laws.

President Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, or AEDPA, in 1996. Human Rights Watch says the legislation "greatly expanded the grounds for detaining and deporting immigrants, including long-term legal residents," authorizing for the first time fast-track deportation procedures, which are now frequently used in the U.S.

Comment: Amazing how partisan-bias seems to affect memory - those exploding with outrage at Trump's immigration policies don't quite remember those of his Democratic forebears:

Five undocumented immigrants dead in Texas after high-speed chase ends in crash

news4sa.com
Sun, 17 Jun 2018 15:01 UTC

Authorities said five undocumented immigrants are dead following a chase involving Border Patrol agents Sunday afternoon.

Dimmit County Sheriff Marion Boyd said the crash happened off Highway 85 in Big Wells at about noon. Boyd said agents were chasing the SUV when it lost control and overturned. The vehicle was traveling at more than 100 miles per hour when it crashed.

Fourteen people were inside, including the driver and passenger. Twelve immigrants were ejected and four died at the scene when the car crashed and rolled over, according to Boyd. A fifth person later died at the hospital. A total of 9 people were transported to the hospital, including five who went to San Antonio Military Medical Center and the rest going to local hospitals. The driver, who is believed to be a United States citizen, was among those transported.

Boyd credited "good police work" for the reason why deputies started pursuing the vehicle.

Over half of all Russians want Putin to remain president after 2024, poll shows

RT
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 14:48 UTC

© Sergey Malgavko / Sputnik
Pedestrians near a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Puitn on a wall of a building in Yalta

Over half of respondents in a Russian poll said that they would prefer Vladimir Putin to remain in power after his current term expires in 2024, regardless of the direct constitutional ban on such a move.

According to the research, conducted by the independent public opinion think tank Levada, the share of Russians who say that they would prefer to see Putin as president after his current term expires in 2024 is 51 percent. 27 percent of respondents described such scenario as 'undesirable'.

The Russian Constitution does not allow the same person to assume the presidential post for more than two terms in a row and Putin has repeatedly told the press that he had no intention to violate or change this rule.

Degenerate society: British town mayor jailed for raping 13-year-old girl (and his wife was in on it)

Zoe O'Brien
Daily Mail
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 14:55 UTC

A former Mayor and conservative councillor has been jailed for abusing a teenage girl who he forced to sleep in bed with him and his wife during the three years he abused her.

Simon Thornton was jailed for nine years on Monday after a judge heard how he used the thirteen-year-old girl as a sex object.

The court also heard that 46-year-old Thornton, Mayor of Godalming in Surrey between 2006 and 2009, told police who arrested him: 'You know I am the Mayor?'

Thornton admitted 22 charges involving having sexual relations with the girl when she was between the ages of 13 and 15. He denied two other counts of paying for sex and producing child pornography.

Balding Thornton sat in the dock as the judge listed a litany of offences involving sex with a girl 'weekly' over a three year period.

The court heard how Thornton had begun grooming the girl from her 13th birthday, buying her phones, picking her up from school and inviting her to his work and home whenever possible.

Russia & India ditching US dollar in defense deals, bypassing sanctions

RT
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 14:43 UTC

Moscow and Delhi are seeking to bypass US sanctions by using the rupee and the ruble in facilitating military deals, according to Indian daily, the Economic Times.

The paper reports that US sanctions are hampering $2 billion in defense deals between Russia and India, as payments are getting stuck. The countries are seeking to avoid this by switching to settlements in domestic currencies and ditching the greenback.

Iran looks to veto Saudi, Russian proposal for increased oil production

RT
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 14:31 UTC

In the latest signal that the upcoming OPEC+ meeting in Vienna could end in disaster, Iran's OPEC representative said the country will veto any proposal for a production increase with the support of Venezuela and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia and Russia will propose an increase in production beginning from July 1, with the range of the suggested increase at between 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 1.5 million bpd. However, "Three OPEC founders are going to stop it," Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told Bloomberg, adding "If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia want to increase production, this requires unanimity. If the two want to act alone, that's a breach of the cooperation agreement."

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Society's Child

Barcelona city council asks for state aid to help with refugees from rescue ship Aquarius

UK prison with 'staggering' suicide rate still failing inmates, says report

Boston Globe columnist suspended for 'embellishing' Boston Marathon bombing story

Parkland sheriff's deputy had "no legal duty" to stop school shooting, according to his lawyers

HRW: Bill Clinton's laws created a shameful immigration system of mass detention and abuse of refugees and migrants

Five undocumented immigrants dead in Texas after high-speed chase ends in crash

Over half of all Russians want Putin to remain president after 2024, poll shows

Degenerate society: British town mayor jailed for raping 13-year-old girl (and his wife was in on it)

Russia & India ditching US dollar in defense deals, bypassing sanctions

Iran looks to veto Saudi, Russian proposal for increased oil production

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